Two-drug HIV therapy effective without resistance testing

A new study shows that the two-drug HIV therapy of dolutegravir and lamivudine is as effective as the standard three-drug regimen, even without preliminary drug resistance testing. This was confirmed in a phase 4 trial with 223 participants. At 48 weeks, both treatment groups had similar rates of HIV-1 RNA below 50 copies/mL. No participants in the two-drug group experienced virologic failure or new drug-resistant mutations, and adverse events were comparable between the groups. The findings suggest that resistance testing may not be necessary for starting treatment with dolutegravir and lamivudine in certain low-risk situations. However, the study's design and limitations mean results may not apply to all populations.